Second gear: Trinity aims for playoff run
South Fayette’s Autumn Mozick and her Lions will do battle with Trinity’s Sierra Kotchman and Alayna Cappelli and their Hillers in Section 5-AAA this season.
Trinity’s girls basketball head coach Bob Miles is hoping his Hillers can return to the PIAA Class AAA playoffs this season.
The play-in system for the PIAA playoffs opened the window for more WPIAL teams to earn their way into the state tournament, but it comes at a cost.
The season is longer and when a team competes in a tough section, it must find a second gear in the playoffs. As Trinity tried to earn its second consecutive trip to the PIAA playoffs last season, it ran into a wall.
Part of the struggle was facing eventual WPIAL and PIAA champion Blackhawk in the Class AAA quarterfinals, but it didn’t get easier. The Hillers’ season ended with three consecutive postseason losses and they allowed more than 59 points per game in the playoffs.
Getting beat in transition and lacking a punch in the fourth quarter, head coach Bob Miles turned to a new strategy to prepare Trinity for the 2015-16 season. The Hillers went through crossfit workouts during the summer and will bring back weekly trips to the weight room during the season.
“We just kind of flatlined a bit,” Miles recalled. “We played basically the best teams in the WPIAL in Section 5. That had a lot to do with it. Our section schedule was maybe the strongest too and maybe that took its toll on us. I think that experience will help us this year.”
The Hillers won five of their final six regular-season games last season and entered the playoffs with plenty of momentum after finishing tied for second in what became the toughest conference in Class AAA.
Of the eight teams left in the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs, four came from Section 5-AAA, including South Fayette, which lost to Blackhawk in the title game, and McGuffey. The Highlanders reached the second round of the state playoffs and Chartiers Valley, the defending section champions, reached the state quarterfinals.
The section had three Division I players and one at a top Division II program. The Hillers took their bumps, but with the bulk of their starting lineup back, including senior center Mary Dunn, a Youngstown State recruit, they are looking to finish in the playoffs.
“Everybody contributes and that’s the key,” Miles said. “On any given night, anybody can come out and have a big game offensively. The other thing is we are getting more solid defensively. We’ll be better in the fourth quarter. That might have been part of our problem last year. We wore down a little bit.”
Dunn averaged 14.6 points per game last season and junior guard Sierra Kotchman chipped in 13.6 for the section’s second-highest scoring offense. They will be joined by sophomore guard Alayna Cappelli, senior guard Natalie Cappelli and junior forward Abbey O’Connor. The Hillers can match the height of Dunn (6-2) and experienced guard play to make defenses off balance.
Like last season, Miles will try to utilize an eight-to-nine-player rotation and he believes he has the tools to get it done. Senior forward Delaney Elling, a Penn State softball recruit, is back to contribute in the front court, as well as senior Adison Mamula, junior Rachel Lemons and a large group of sophomores.
Though the group is capable of putting up big numbers on offense, Miles is emphasizing defense.
“Defensively we gave up 237 points in the playoffs last year,” Miles said. “That’s way too many points. We’ve been talking about being a better defending team and getting up and down the floor. We can run better this year than we did last year and our depth has a lot to do with that.”
Despite having a talented roster back and the section losing several quality players, Trinity won’t be the perceived favorite. South Fayette, which made the program’s first WPIAL title game appearance, has five starters back, including senior center Emily Anderson and junior guard Carlee Kilgus.
Trinity wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Anytime you can fly under the radar it’s a good thing,” Miles said. “People will look at South Fayette with Anderson and Kilgus, and I think our section is going to be strong, too. That’s going to be good for us as far as experience is concerned.”
When the Lions’ players arrived for their first practice this month, they brought a reminder of how close they came to being champions. They walked into the high school’s gymnasium and hung their silver medals on a ball rack.
Though South Fayette reached the WPIAL championship game as the 10th seed in Class AAA, it wasn’t satisfied with second place.
“It’s a constant reminder that we weren’t good enough last year,” South Fayette head coach Matt Bacco said of the medals. “It’s a reminder of what it takes. It’s something that’s on our minds and it was all summer. We didn’t reach our goal and if we want to do it we have to put forth that extra effort.”
The Lions certainly have the pieces to get the job done. Anderson averaged 12 points and 10 rebounds per game. The 6-4 University of Pennsylvania recruit was dominant in the WPIAL playoffs before getting injured in a semifinal win over Elizabeth Forward.
Kilgus, meanwhile, averaged 12 points per game. They will be joined by Autumn Mozick, Mikayla Fetchet and Sam Kosmacki – all of whom started last season.
McGuffey’s memorable three-year run ended last season with the program’s first state playoff victory, a 2,000-point scorer and a third consecutive 20-win season.
Three-time Observer-Reporter Player of the Year Sammie Weiss is now at California University, three more starters are gone, including point guard Rachel Czulewicz, and the Highlanders have a new coach.
Morgan Spaulding takes over as head coach after Amanda Burchett’s resignation. The Highlanders were 60-18 the past three seasons, but with only three lettermen returning, this season could be a time of transition for the program.
The Rams defeated Greensburg Salem in a preliminary round playoff game before losing to top-seeded Blackhawk.
Though Marlena Schmidt, a 6-6 center who is now playing at West Virginia, is gone, Ringgold has one of the WPIAL’s most promising young players back. Sophomore Ashley Briscoe averaged more than 11 points per game as a freshman and senior guard Bailey Cooper is back after chipping in a team-high 13.3 per game.
Like McGuffey, the Rams have a new head coach. Erika McCarthy took over for Laura Grimm, who had to step down after being named the school’s athletic director.